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:: Release Info:
::
:: Artist......> Le Concorde
:: Title.......> Universe and Villa
:: Label.......> March
:: Genre.......> Indie
:: Rip.Date....> 06.16.2005
:: Street.Date.> 00.00.0000
:: Source......> CDDA
:: Quality.....> VBRkbps - Full Stereo
:: Play Time...> 52:26 min
::
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:: Track Listing:
::
:: 01. People Mover
:: 02. Parallel Lives
:: 03. Archeology of Cruelty
:: 04. Little Stabs at Happiness
:: 05. Startling Revelations
:: 06. Manhattan Chase
:: 07. Taxi in the Snow
:: 08. I Will Go to My Grave Wanting You to Love Me
:: 09. In the Morning
:: 10. Controlling
:: 11. The Sound of Your Name
:: 12. It's the Minor Chords that Kill You
:: 13. I Hate Rock and Roll
::
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:: Release Notes:
::
:: "Cool, classicist familiars - The Pearlfishers, Heavy
:: Blinkers, Camera Obscura and the Young Tradition among them -
:: would have you believe that elegant has always been the apt
:: imprimatur for pop music. And you, caught up in the headiness
:: of Brill Building co-writes, banquette reserve and delicate,
:: orchestral accompaniments, might impulsively decide that
:: nothing could compare. You would be wrong of course. Le
:: Concorde are equally edifying in their heart-whole sleekness,
:: a perfect measure of sincere, modern craft and late-'80s
:: eloquence.
::
:: Le Concorde are Stephen Becker's former Chicago indie-pop
:: band Post Office in present tense. The previous lineup
:: included Becker (guitar, voice), Larry O. Dean (guitar,
:: voice), Jeff Greaves (drums, voice) and Jerry Morrow (bass,
:: voice). Post Office released two records, Public Displays of
:: Affection and Fables in Slang, in 1997 and 2001 respectively,
:: on local label Spade Kitty Records. Adroitly associated (the
:: dB's Chris Stamey produced the lauded sophomore effort) and
:: keenly influenced (Tommy Keene, dB's, the Plimsouls, Velvet
:: Crush, Sneakers, The Kinks and Shoes, to start), Post Office
:: were jangly, smart and unwilling to concede the middling pop
:: music signifiers: humorless, kitschy, bubble gum without
:: melody.
::
:: Le Concorde are similarly well appointed. Becker has
:: assembled an ideal, largely local collaborative for this
:: affectionate six-song effort, recalling the nascent shimmer
:: of electronic keyboards, ardent songwriting, and how pretty
:: it was to think so. Allure and simplicity are found (again)
:: in the mannered design of Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout and
:: Stephen Duffy.
::
:: Joining Becker in part are John Ashton and Mars Williams of
:: the Psychedelic Furs, Eric Chial (the Bon Mots), Mark
:: Ruggiero (Light FM) and Phil Angotti (The Idea). Epicycle,
:: the moniker of brothers Ellis and Tom Clark, produce and back
:: the ensemble. Known for solicitous, layered arrangements and
:: an apprised ear, the Clarks' production renders nuanced yet
:: appreciable shadings, including singer/songwriter Kevin
:: Tihista and post-Swell Maps periphery Chamber Strings and
:: June & The Exit Wounds.
::
:: Le Concorde are burnished in kind, imparting near-evening
:: music with breathy passes, synth halos and attendant electric
:: guitar. Captivating are those who can lend sincerity without
:: appearing provincial, out of time or otherwise. Letters never
:: sent, the odd screen-idol trope and nods to the weather
:: outside are tangible remnants of songwriters like Duffy,
:: Aztec Camera's Roddy Frame and Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon.
::
:: Much like the added-to and reissued The Ballad of Ric Menck,
:: this is a record from a musician who clearly loves music,
:: mining what appeals as a listener and then conjuring the same
:: fond glimmer once in the studio. Le Concorde's conceit is
:: conveying the intimacy of those favorite artists, yet adding
:: modern burbles and fluency, like field recordings from O'Hare
:: airport ("People Mover") or a cool, reverb guitar charge with
:: conjoining falsetto ("It's the Minor Chords That Kill You").
::
:: Summer is an ideal drape for songwriters. The swelter, the
:: sounds, the rock 'n' roll convocation. "It's the Minor Chords
:: That Kill You" cues with a nod to street-song currency and
:: the vintage corona of a Fairlight CMI. The synthesizer warms
:: and Becker entreats, "Summer's here and the time is right."
:: The vocals are a hushed near-conspiracy, faint but inciting
:: just the same. Time to forget about winter's constraints,
:: join everyone outside where the party is: "It's the minor
:: chords that kill you/ I'm losing them for summer." In
:: contrast to the askance psychedelia of the Go-Betweens'
:: "Summer Is Melting My Mind," there is no mistaking the
:: crunchy, power-pop framework. This is more convivial with a
:: swooping falsetto and the percussive bounding between drum
:: and guitar. At fadeout, a lilting acoustic guitar joins
:: programmed birdcalls in an ultramodern close to a summer
:: evening, where everyone is happy to stay up late listening to
:: cassettes.
::
:: "Sound of Your Name" is Frame's equal in the enveloping
:: sentiency of a late-night phone call, alight with the same
:: provocative saxophone that made the Psychedelic Furs so cool.
:: Ruminations on love, distance and time. "The heart has
:: reasons even reason cannot know/ And a chamber to contain/
:: The sound of your name." A radio is probably playing low in
:: another room. Mirroring the delicacy of the rapport, the
:: backing is kept low, leaving the sax and voice to suggest
:: what's necessary.
::
:: "Parallel Lives" is Le Concorde's set piece, a resonant piano
:: ballad that warms to its harmonica intro. Becker's vocals are
:: easily at their most lorn as an electric keyboard affects a
:: radiant regret: "I can't make it through these souvenirs/
:: Repatriate to where the moss is green and the melancholy's
:: gentle." The spare richness is almost otherworldly, recalling
:: Prefab Sprout, the Lilac Time and Nilsson.
::
:: Le Concorde are grand agents of the interior, equally taken
:: with the smallish moments, ornate possibilities and
:: sophisticated, relevant pop music (again)."
::
::
:: Http://marchrecords.com/
:: Http://cdbaby.com
::
::
:: Buy it if you like it!
::
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::
:: RiP iN PeACe!
::
::
::
::....................................................................